Will You Change, if Jesus Is Found NOT To be Real?

That would be a good starting point. I wouldn't change much as the all the scripture is still all hearsay and probably documents nothing of his
actual teachings. The scriptures do exist but they are just not in the canon (apocalyptic). If Jesus did exist he would be disgusted by the state of
Christianity in the 21st century and it's overall performance in the past 1500.

IF JESUS WAS FOUND TO BE A FALSE STORY , HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT RELIGION?

Really, it wouldn't affect me that much - it was always clearly a myth, intended to impart messages on an intellectual level (is it any wonder we
still don't understand?

) and I don't base my acts of kindness on the words of a 2,000 year old corpse that reneged on a deal with a god who
apparently is incapable of sparing its own kin...so why would we trust it to spare us?

You know, all the stuff that is considered to be most
'important' by the religious standards of today.

Yeah, my philosophies don't require the existence or honesty of any mythical figure. Just goes to
show what happens when you rely on anything but your personal sense of moral decency for the sake of decency. It's a clumsy way of putting it, but I
really don't feel like elaborating on a series of points that will probably be ignored or misinterpreted anyway.

Religion just makes us feel better about the bullcrap in life, because we are always wanting more than we deserve. So we need a reason to believe
there's a reason we don't have as much as we want, or there's a reason life displeases us. Chaos given order, because we're seflish brats who don't
understand that our greed does not fall in line with tne natural order of the universe, which is why nothing makes sense.

If you guys haven't figure it out by now, you probably fall under that description to some degree...even if you don't want to admit it. If there's one
thing we can be relied upon for, it's to deny our own imperfections.

No I wouldn't change, a bit. I don't lie cheat or steal from people, i don't go out murdering, or blowing things up, or anything like that, I
don't commit "sins". So why do I need to believe in a higher power to not do these things?

IF JESUS WAS FOUND TO BE A FALSE STORY , HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT RELIGION?

First off, I would like to thank followtheevidence for the response that focused my thinking:

Originally posted by followtheevidence
...
I wouldn't change. I'd still do my best to emulate Christ as He continues to be the highest moral good, the most beautifully conceptualized ideal to
hit the planet.

~ FTE

As far as I know, we are not in possession of anything which would pass as an actual biography for the man Jesus Christ. Various things are written in
such a way to "prove" he fits this or that "prophecy" of some coming Messiah.

It isn't difficult to determine what a "Messiah" type is from the Old Testament. Briefly stated: An absolute king (despot, tyrant) who rules by
divine fiat. The "appropriate" response to such a character is to grovel and kiss the hand, as in Psalm 2, "Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you
be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment."

Now to contrast the "Messiah" type to the "Christ" type:

Intuitively, I would say that force of character, acceptance of human condition, sympathy, and empathy characterize the "Christ" type. A man,
teacher, example, who can be followed on an ethical path throughout one's lifetime, that's the Christ. The less he seems to fit the "Messiah"
mold, the more likely he is to be "Christ".

How I feel about religion: If it enhances a person's ability to live peacefully and sympathetically with other people it is good; if it causes
divisions, hatred, and chauvinism (my team is more blessed than your team), than it is counterproductive.

I like this thread and wish to explore ideas as well. My personal feelings though do come from what I have learned over the last forty years.

This is a personal thread, more or less how people feel, not what is written, but your own personal feelings about it.

I learn from myself and other peoples work and or opinion.

if religious

I hold no religion.

Next you say this, "just if you believe in jesus". I do believe in Jesus, always have, however please do not assume someone who believes in Jesus
buys Christianity teachings. I have self taught myself from the ground up to what I believe today. As I continue to learn/live, my belief will change.

I kind of like "Holy Science". That is what I am studying at present. If you haven't checked it out, I recommend it as its really interesting.

IF JESUS WAS FOUND TO BE A FALSE STORY , HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT RELIGION?

I don't like religion's teachings now.... so.....

people were to find out that everything they believe is true, more or less, but the jesus story was false, or made up, would that change things for
you?

Myths are a part of our history, culture and tell stories such as ours in the heavens/stars/astronomy, so I would be surprised.

Not sure it would change anything for me, I would find something else to study.

You seem to have missed the part where he said, "Even if it wasn't true, I'd still follow because it IS true!" He didn't actually answer the question.
Kind like you're offered choice 1 or 2 and you choose option 4 because bananas, and because I said so, so there!

That option wasn't offered, so
how can you choose it? That's what I call a "strawman answer".

Answering the question without answering it because you aren't comfortable with the idea. That dude deserves to be in the White House with a strategy
like that.

Do you need a brain? Perhaps a nice fresh level up in critical thinking skills. Or maybe +5 to your evasion tactics.

We all have room for improvement, of course my critical thinking skills could use polishing. I doubt I'll ever reach the pinnacle of critical thought
with no need for further refinement. I'm quite alright admitting when I've missed something. As it would be, in my original reply I did make a
semantic error. I stated that if Christ wasn't who He said He was than I'd still do my best to emulate Him. Of course, you're right - that would
make Him a liar and me a fool for following His (a liar's) example. And so what I meant to say was - If Christ really wasn't who the Scripture's
say He said He was then I'd still aim to follow His teachings because even if He didn't really exist the tenets of Christ (or whoever conjured them
up if it wasn't Christ) are still worthy of pursuit.

If Jesus was found to have never existed, my faith would change little. It is not so much based on the character but rather the message.

It takes study and contemplation but the message of Jesus is amazing. This does not mean every word in the Bible and/or every religious interpretation
is amazing. No way, at least not for me. It takes sifting and scrutiny, not cherry picking.

If Jesus never existed, I would probably be even more intrigued as to who generated these ideas and the message.

I guess I'd be a little bummed that they didn't figure that out before half of my ancestors were raped, murdered, burned, skinned alive, and
robbed of their cultures.

But that's just me.

Do you realize how many Christians, were tortured, and killed because of their beliefs, and that it still happens today.

Many young children were stoned to death because of their belief in Christ back in the early years of Christianity.

Most of the apostles died a horrendous death burning on a cross, because they dared believe and preach in the gospel of Christ.

Because a few idiots have decided that they would kill, and pillage in the name of Christ, does not negate the fact that there have been, and still
are many good people who have died torturous deaths all because they chose to believe in the words of Christ.

I really wish history could show exactly how many cruel deaths Christians have had to suffer, and these were not the ones who started silly rampages
under the banner of Christ...because in my opinion these were never true Christians , and used that excuse for their hidden motivations.

I so admire your composure and intelligence to some very rude remarks.

You were correct in saying that you were totally on topic.

Not sure how the "get a brain", and other rude remarks qualify as being on topic.. just saying.

In answer to the Op's question, I have to say that have pondered this question more than once on my life , and it only lead back to how much this
world does need Jesus, in my opinion.

My hope is there will come a time when we will all know the truth , without a doubt, and more importantly than if Jesus is not real..is the
question.."is He real..and what was His true purpose for this planet".

Cool question. Sadly, I don't think it would change my feelings about religion...

Aside from sharing similar thoughts as other posters regarding the tongue-n-cheek mythological/people-herding nature of religious texts, I can only
think of a couple things that might change...

I'd probably feel like I did when I was 30 & found out that Santa Claus wasn't real, but it wouldn't keep me from celebrating X-mas!

I'd probably have a lot less cognitive dissonance about doubting the whole Jesus/supernatural deal while identifying as a Christian!

At the end of the day, sandals will still be sandals & my cognition squares best with belief in something bigger than my perceptual world, so I'd
probably just hold strong to Jesus being an alien & most other religions saying similar, but different, because so much is lost over time & in
translation.

Originally posted by WhisperingWinds
Do you realize how many Christians, were tortured, and killed because of their beliefs, and that it still happens today.

Many young children were stoned to death because of their belief in Christ back in the early years of Christianity.

Most of the apostles died a horrendous death burning on a cross, because they dared believe and preach in the gospel of Christ.

I stated that if it weren't for Christianity, many of my ancestors wouldn't have died the way they did. You are saying the same thing about
Christians. So many of my ancestors and Christians wouldn't have died the horrible deaths they did if it weren't for Christianity.

I'm not making a value statement on the religion. I was answering the question. Apparently you feel the same way only you feel it was worth all of
the deaths.

Originally posted by WhisperingWinds
Because a few idiots have decided that they would kill, and pillage in the name of Christ, does not negate the fact that there have been, and still
are many good people who have died torturous deaths all because they chose to believe in the words of Christ.

Doesn't that just help my point? You are just pointing out even more people who have died in the name of Christ. When you are being
tortured, I don't think it makes a difference if you are being tortured by a Christian or being tortured because you are a
Christian.

Originally posted by WhisperingWinds
I really wish history could show exactly how many cruel deaths Christians have had to suffer, and these were not the ones who started silly rampages
under the banner of Christ...because in my opinion these were never true Christians , and used that excuse for their hidden motivations.

Believe me, I don't think they were "true" representatives of Christianity, either. Otherwise, I'd dislike Christians. I don't. I understand
that the religion was used as tool just like it is today in politics. The GOP have learned to manipulate it very effectively.

I was saying that I'd be bummed because a lot of people would have died for no reason whatsoever. It's bad enough that they died for a stupid
reason but no reason at all would be even worse.

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